Lighting device



Feb. 10, 1931. J FLAHERTY 1,792,292

LIGHTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 14, 1929 Harold J. Flahert His AC CJQPn Patented Feb. 10, 1931 uezaezars HAROLD J'. rtennnrmon swat-meme, mnss ncnusnrrs; nests-non ro eminent v ELECTRIC GOMP.% ;1\T,'A oenrone'rron or nnw voai:

LIGHTING nnvron v Ap lic tion-med August 14,1929. Serial No; 385,922.

".My invention relates to a lighting device comprising flHBlBQtIlG lamp, said device being especially adapted for street lightlng.

,fIn devices of the abovecharacter it is im-" 5 portant that the filament o'f-the electric-lampibexproperly 'adjustedwith: respect to the other elements thereof. Inasmuch as the socket that supports theelectriclamp is cated within the casingof the device, it is de- 10 sirable that means be provided for enabling the adjustment of the lamp and socket to be .made from the outside, thus avoiding the ne-.

cessity of having to unlatch ordisplace any of the elements of the device for thispur- .pose, and it is-an object of the inventionqto provide improved means for this purpose. 1 It is an object to provide such adjusting'means', comprising a shaft which maybe turned from the outside "of the device, which shaft is 2o geared with the supporting jmeansforitheelectric lamp with-in the casing and insuch a manner that the lampflmay ad usted lengthwise of the device; It is an object to lock. the shaft to hold the lamp in'its adj ust-" edpositiomand to provide friction means for preventing the lamp and its supporting means from falling when the locking means is released for adjusting pi'ir'poses. s

' The features of the invention'will be more to fully described in the following specification and claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 shows a unit comprising the features of the invention. In this figure the unit. is shown ,1? in side elevation, with the casing partly broken away and the lowerpart of the globe also broken. away tosimplify the drawing.

Fig. 2 shows, in perspective, the mechanism towhich the socket 13 secured and through the 9 medium of which the adjustment is accomplished. Fig. 3 shows the same mechanism with the elements thereof in so-called exploded view and in perspective. Referring more in detail to the drawing,

provided with a cap 3. To this cap the easing is secured, as for example by means of screws 4 which are in threaded engagement with the cap and which project into the usual the fixture comprises a casing 2 of any suitable insulating material, which casing 1s.

depression (not shown) "inthecasing, thus supporting the latter.- In the'lower part of the cas ng such elements as zthe globe 5 are secured in any suitable manner. Sometimes shaft element A, which is provided with a threaded shoulder?) to receive the nut: 10' which is used to lock theadjusting mecha.

nism in any. adjusted position. gThe section 1 1 of the shaft is adapted to receive a c pression spring 12Iand passes through ahole 14 in the. bracket. 15. portion 13 of the shaft receivesthe' pinion 16, and, the

collar 17. The collar and the pinion -l6 areunitedto the. end of etheshaft inany suitable manner, as g for example 'byspreading Thereforefthe pinion"16 and-"the" collar. '17.

are rigidwith the shaft. Normallythe pm;

ion is located in; the slot 25 of the rack geared, with the teeth--18; The'braclret 15 is pro: ,vided with arms 19 between which the rack element 19 located. Thebracket therefore serves as a guidingelement for the rack, the formerfbeing secured to the inside of the casing in any suitableimanner, aslfor.

the end of the sh 'aft as indicated in Fig.2; I

example by'meansof "screws, extending 2 1 through holes 20 at the base ofthe legs 21 When the elements shownin Fig.3 are assembled as shown inFig..2,,the pinion 16 is held in the slot 25 and in engagement with ,the'teeth 18 of thera'ck Y Asfindicatedin Fig. *1, the threaded shoulder f the", shaft passes through a hole 23 in the casing, the

hole being sufliciently flargeto permit the section 11- of the shaft to move lengthwise therein. The spring. 12, however, operates topress the shaft toward the right, thereby m aintaining" thefoollar 17 against thefaee 23 of the rack: and at the same time, mainspring 12 therefore operate asa friction de- "taining the teeth, ofthepinion and ofthe rack ill-engagement. The collar'lZ and the vice to prevent the rack 19 from falling and the lamp with .it when the nut .10 is loosened from the casing and the shaft thus released. Alsothe nut 10 serves to-engage the outside of the casing, thereby locking the shaft and the rack against movement.

Inasmuch as the bracketl is secured to the casing,i the turning-operation of, the shaft the direction of rotation. Obviously a clockwiserotation, viewing the axis of the shaft A from ri ht to left "will cause the rack:

to be raised, and the reverse rotation will causethe rack to be lowered -Tlie=hea d of the shaft A is provided witha slot in order to facilitate the turningoperation 'by' means of any suitablev tool such as a screwdriver. f a.

- and a spring member which" engages the shaft When the rack has been set in de'siredposition, the shaft may belocked' by means of the nut 10, as indicated in Fig. 1-.

The lamp socket ,7 maybe secured to the rack 19 in any-suitable manner. indi cated in Fig. 1, the'socket is secured to a porcelain element 24;, which latter is'directly secured to therac'k 19 -bvmea ns of screws 8. Ordinarily, in unitsof the type shown in Fig l, the socket 7 is provided with termie nals'projecting above the top-of-the socket,

, which terminals are adaptedto be inserted ina series cutout receptacle, represented in this-case by the element 24. However, any.

suitable arrangement may be employed to secure the socket to the rack; With the arrangement showmif the nut 10 is madeto recede from the]casing'the pinion 16 may be disengaged from the rack19 by'-.pressing the endof the shaft A-to' the left, thereby compressing the spring 12. Therefore, be-

-- fore the globe and other elements are secured to the container, therack 19 may be raised or lowered without the-necessity of turning the shaft A. .Thismaybedoneby pressing the shaft slightly to release the friction betweenthe collar 17, whereupon the rack may be raised or lowered by hand, al-

lowing the shaft to rotate. Or the shaft may be pressed until thepinion 16 clears the spring 12 draws thepinion 16 back into normal position, after which the shaft may be one or more of the light-modifying elements of the device. The assembling operation is also simple and inexpensive. v

It will be'understood that, although I have illustrated only one formof the invention,'I do not wish to be'limited, to the specific form shown, inasmuch, as I contemplate spirit of the invention and the scope of the cla ms contained herein. 7

What I claim as new and desire to secure 7 by Letters Patent of the United States is .modiiications and variations within the" 1; In-an adjusting mechanism, the com bination of a wall having an opening, a guide bracket fixed to the wall, a toothed rack adapted to slide in said guidebracket, a shaft i which projects through said opening,a pinion on said shaft (which meshes with said" toothed rack, a'frictionmember' on the shaft,

and biases it in a direction to clamp therack betwen said friction member and the bracket,

whereby said fri'ction member may be moved a'w'ayfroni'said rack by axial movement of tbeshaft.

guide bracket fixed to the casing, an adjustguide bracket, a shaft which projects through 'saidopening and is provided on its end with a friction member for'engagement with the" face of saiid lampsupporting element, means carried by the shaft and'engaging the lamp supporting element for adjusting said element when the shaft is turned, and spring ablelamp supporting element carried by the means which biases the shaft in a direction to hold the frictionmember in engagement with said lamp supporting element whereby the .friction member-maybemoved away from the lamp supporting element by' a iaIl movement of the shaft. p In witness whereof-,1 have hereunto set my hand this tenth day IofAugust,1929.;

HAROLD J. -FLAHERTY.

However, when locked by thenut. 10 to hold therack in the new position.

It will be seen, therefore, that the invenf tion comprises means for readily adjusting the lamp within the devicefrom the outside,

which means is simpleand employs-a small the operation is simple, and the adjustment can be quickly performed with no in'con- 'venience suchas the preliminary removal of 

